Given a rare opportunity to share at an all-hands, I dove in. Somewhere in the middle it started to sag, and I could see others starting to drift.
So I rushed. Bad move. Point was missed.
Lesson learned. Never workshop a story live in a room that matters. Tell it once somewhere low-stakes before it ever reaches a high-stakes moment.
The first draft is never the keeper
The first time we share a thought, it comes out crowded. Full of details that matter to us, and thin on the ones that color in the picture for everyone else.
This really hit home when I took a stand-up comedy class. Comedians never debut new material on the big night. They test it in small venues first. They watch where the laugh lands. They cut everything that does not earn a chuckle. By the time the special airs, those jokes have been told a hundred times.
Your talk deserves the same. A rehearsal out loud. To a friend, a partner, the dog.
Something shifts on the second telling. You hear the parts that drag. You find the sentence that actually lands. The point gets shorter and stronger at the same time.
The second telling is where the story gets clear.
Try this
Pick the topic you know you will tell in a room that matters. Before the talk, tell it once, all the way through, to one person or a recording. Iterate. Then tell the shorter version when it counts.
Worth a read
The Curse of Knowledge. The reason the people who know the most are often the ones who lose the room. From MIT Sloan on why deep expertise makes us over-explain, and how to say the thing so it actually lands. A short read you can use before your next meeting.
A second draft of my own
As many of you know, Clear and Compelling was self-published last year and picked up almost immediately by a New York publisher. Five months of editing, revising, and reshaping later, it is ready for the mainstream.
It synthesizes decades of coaching analytical, technical, and quiet leaders on the frameworks and strategies that turn their brilliance into impact. And it arrives in 13 weeks from Morgan James Publishing.
When you order through Bookshop.org, your purchase supports an independent bookstore near you.
Order Clear and Compelling from your local bookstore →
Communication strategies to help you lead with care and accountability
Order from Your Local Bookstore
@ClearandCompelling #ClearandCompelling